May 6, 2019

I was watching a television series that was about life on different planets. The current episode was about a tropical island planet. It was an ocean world with a single tropical island that was populated by a village of people. There were scenes of children surfing by the spotless beaches while the narrator explained the dramatic tide changes throughout the day.

Meanwhile, I was also upgrading an old computer. The first component to change was the graphics card, as the installed one was so old that it started lagging on splash screens. A friend and I were talking about how, at the time, the old graphics card cost 200 HKD (this was, supposedly, a lot).

We also happened to be moving some things around my room, all while music was playing from a YouTube playlist. Another friend brought a shoe box to my attention, labeled: Box of Review. When they opened it up to look inside, I commented, “Hey, that’s mine.” I had completely forgotten about the box prior to this moment. Inside the box was a signed banknote and a bag of coins from a foreign country. There was also a stack of notecards with messages from former classmates. Among the other miscellaneous memorabilia from this school trip was a Ziploc bag with two, still yellow, bananas. We were amazed by how fresh they looked.

“No oxygen goes a long way”, someone said.

“Want to try it?” I asked while picking up and holding the bag in their direction. “Sure”, they said.

However, I had changed my mind and suggested to “wait another 10 years.”